Metal diaphragm



Feb. 24, 1931. I c, s, KELLEY 1,793,621

METAL DIAPHRAGM Filed April 20, 1927 INVENTOR CECIL axe Lg. EY

ATTOR NEV Patented Feb. 24, 1931 UNITED, sures CECIL S. KELLEY, OF EASTMcKEESPDET, PE1 TNSYLVA1\'|'IA,'- ,ASSIGNOR; INGHOUSE AIR-BRAKE COMPANY,OF WILMERDING, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORAe v TION OF PENNSYLVANIAApplication filed April 20,

The invention relates to flexible diaphragms of the type adapted to beclamped at its outer edge and which is flexed in service to accomplishvarious purposes.

The principal object of my invention is to provide a flexible metallicdiaphragm, which for a given thickness of materiah'will have greaterstrength, will deflect under load, a greater distance, a greater numberof times, than has hitherto been possible without damage to thediaphragm. Another object of the invention is to pro- 7 1 vide aflexible metallic diaphragm in which the metal is so disposed, that whenthe dia- 'phragm is subjected to the action of loads, the stresses setup therein will be distributed in differentdir'ections over the flexingportion of the diaphragm and will thus reduce toa minimum the liabilityof damage-to the diaphragm, due to repeated flexing.

A further object of the invention is to provide a metallic diaphragmhaving increased sensitivity. I 7

These and other objects and advantages will be apparent from thefollowing detailed descriptio i 7 Referring to the drawing, in Whichlike reference characters refer'to like parts, Fig. l is a face view ofa metallic diaphragm formed in accordance with the invention, several ofthe corrugations belng shown ln-detail; Fig.2 is a sectionalview of thesame taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1; and Fig. 3 is an enlargedcross-sectional View taken on the line 33 of Fig. 2.

.As shown'in the accompanying drawing, the flexible diaphragm ispreferably made from thin metal and may comprise: an outer flat annularclamping flange 1,-avcentral' flat circular follower portion 2 and anintermediate annular trough-shaped portion 3, all of V differentplanes.k

-' The annular trough-shapedportion 31s which are preferably integral.In Fig.2 of the drawing the flange 1 and the circular follower portion 2have been shown as belng 1n the same plane with each other, but it willbe understood that they may be disposed in preferably of semicircularform in cross sec tion and is provided with a plurality of METALDIAPHRAGM? 1927. Seria1No.-.185j346.

radially arranged semi-circular corrugations l- Which'may be ofanysuitable formin'cross section,

but, asshown' considerably enlarged in Fig. 3v of the'drawing, arepreferably formed with curved top and bottom walls '5 andjflrespectively, and flat wall"portions 7 These cor-rugationsrare deepestat substantially the bottom of tl1e, )ortion3,'or in other words, on orabout a line substantially midi the corrugations taper to theirshallowest' depth at their ends. The outer ends of the corrugationsmergeinto ajplain annular pore tion 8 which is adjacent the clampingflange 1', while the inner ends' 1nerge intoia curved portion 9connecting -the circular follower portion2. Besides tapering in. depth,the

corrugations.alsotaper'from their greatest.

width'flat their ends adjacent the portion'8,to

their least width adjacent the follower portion-,2. 1'

7 When inoperative. p osition the clamping flange L1 is secured againstmovement and" whenthe diaphragm is sub ectedto the action.

of-loads iii-the direction as indicated byv the arrow in'Fig. 2 o f thedrawing, the portion 2 as a whole :will'bemoved downwardly and theportion 3,:dueto the rigidity of the corrugations 4, willbegin toflex'at oradjacent the placer-where the corrugations 7 merge into the'annular'portion" 8, and as; the movement is,

continued the corrugatedportion will flex,

transversely of the corrugations away from causing the walls of thecorrugations to flex i" 2 each other, that is to say, the corrugationswill havea' tendencyto flatten, such tendency being greatest at theouter ends of the corru I v gations' and gradually decreasing astheinner' f ends of the corrugations are ..approached.

\Vhen the diaphragm is subjected to the ac-= tion of loads in adirection oppositeto that indicated by the arrowin Fig. 2, thewalls ofthe corrugations will flex transversely of the corrugations toward eachother-. It will be noted that ina diaphragm formed inaccord- 'ancewiththe invention, the metal is so disrposed that, in operation, theliability of; f

breakage of the diaphragm, due torepeated flexing, is reduced toa-minimum.

In the drawing, there has been shown, only one arrangement of thecorrugations, but it will be seen that there may be other arrangementsused without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended'claims.

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

'1. A flexible metallic diaphragm comprising an outer clamping flange,an inner follower portion and an intermediate troughshaped portionhaving cylindrical portions adjacent said flange and follower portion,and corrugations formed 'in said troughshaped portion andmerging intosaid cylin-' dricalportions. f

2. A flexible metallic diaphragm comprising an outer clamping flange,aninner follower portion andan intermediate troughshaped portion havingcylindrical side portions extending'at angles to said'flange andfollower portion, and a corrugation extending from one of saidcylindrical portions to theother. I

3. A flexible diaphragm having a trough shaped portion and taperingcorrugations extending in directions across said troughshaped portion,said portion, having cylindrical' port-ions at'the ends of saidcorrugations. 7' 7 at. A flexible diaphragm having a troughshapedportion and flexible corrugations ex- 1 tending in directions acrosssaid troughshaped portion and terminating in cylindrical portionsforming parts'ot said trough-- shaped portion.

v 5. :A flexible metallicdiaphragm comprismg an outer clamping flange,an inner follower portion and an intermediate trough-- shaped portionhaving corrugations formed. therein which taper in width and depth andmerge into cylindrical TJOI-tlO-IXS forming parts of said trough-shapedportion,

In testimony whereof I have-hereunto set myhand; w h

CECIL S. KELLEY,

